Thou shalt take your Bible class

by E. J. Montini - Feb. 5, 2012 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

An Arizona legislative committee last week approved a bill to create an elective high-school class called "The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture," a divinely inspired proposal that needs only two minor changes.

First, the class should not be elective but mandatory. Second, it should not be taught to high-school students but to legislators.

Can I get an "Amen!"?

Given their behavior, Arizona lawmakers must have been absent at Sunday school when a few relatively important topics came up.

For example, caring for their fellow man. Remember how legislators refused to extend unemployment benefits to Arizona men and women who had been out of work for a long time even though the money would have come from the federal government?

Would they have done that if they were familiar with a Bible passage like Acts 20:35? It says, "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

Likewise, would they continue giving tax breaks to the wealthiest among us if they were familiar with 1 Timothy 6:17? That's a passage reading, "Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment."

In fact, lawmakers might actually start thinking more about the underprivileged than the wealthy if they were familiar with Proverbs 19:17, which says, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."

And citizens like us might not have to worry about the influence of highly paid lobbyists working for special interests if our politicians were familiar with Matthew 6:24, which reads, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

Would our lawmakers cut or limit health care for children if they'd studied Mark 10:14? It says, "But when Jesus saw (it), he was much displeased, and said unto them, 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.' "

Would there have been a Fiesta Bowl scandal if they were familiar with Proverbs 16:19? It tells us, "Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."

Would they wage war against police and firefighters and try to deny their rights to bargain collectively if they'd been at Sunday School during the discussion of Isaiah 10:1-2? It reads, "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people. ... "

Or to Proverbs 22:16, which reads, "He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want."

Would we have all the ugly negative campaigning in every election if our politicians read Matthew 5:5? It reminds us: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

Nor would candidates trash one another if they had any understanding of Matthew 23:12, which says, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."

For these reasons and many more the state must create a Bible class and require elected officials to take it. After the final exam -- assuming any of them pass -- we could present each lawmaker with a plaque that will have on it this quote from Galatians 6:3:

"For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."